COMPANY NEWS

COMPANY NEWS; MASSEY ENERGY ORDERED TO PAY $50 MILLION IN DAMAGES

Published: August 3, 2002

The Massey Energy Company, a coal producer, was ordered by a West Virginia jury to pay $50 million in damages to the closely held Harman Mining Corporation. Harman's owner, Hugh Caperton, accused Massey of driving his company out of business by supplying coal to the Wellmore Coal Corporation, according to a Massey spokeswoman, Katharine Kenny. The impact of the jury verdict, handed down on Thursday, ''depends on our appeal,'' said Donald Blankenship, the chief executive of Massey, which is based in Richmond, Va. Robert Berthold Jr., a Harman lawyer, said, ''Massey kept us in protracted litigation for an extended period of time and we feel the jury entered a very fair and adequate award.''